This invention relates to an automotive steering assembly in which a steering pad disposed at a central portion of the steering wheel is held stationary independently of the rotation of the steering wheel.
Recently, an attempt has been made to arrange various kinds of push buttons or the like on a steering pad so that various operations can be performed by them. These push buttons are made to stay stationary even when the steering wheel is turned.
Such steering wheel assembly is composed by supporting the steering pad on a mechanism including a ring-shaped stationary member fixed to the car body and provided around the steering shaft to rotatably support the same, another ring-shaped member provided rotatably around the steering shaft to carry the steering pad thereon, a timing belt passing around said two ring-shaped members in meshing engagement and a rotary member also provided in meshing engagement with said timing belt and rotatably connected to the steering wheel. In this structure, said timing belt passes around the two ring-shaped members and the rotary member. Upon operation of the steering member, the two ring-shaped members are maintained stationary whereas the rotary member rotates around the two ring-shaped members while rotating on the timing belt.
If, however, any foreign matters including said grains or the like enters between the timing belt and the rotary member, the teeth of the above engaging members tend to be worn or broken so that their replacement is often required. Moreover, it is often observed that the entry of such foreign matters gives the steering wheel a slightly heavy feel to the driver.